Executive Assistant

Fawkes & Reece London; Chesham; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Fawkes & Reece London is seeking a highly organized Executive Assistant to support the Managing Director in a busy civil engineering business delivering complex infrastructure projects across rail, water, utilities, aviation and other sectors.

You will act as a trusted extension of the MD's office, managing priorities, coordinating senior stakeholders and ensuring decisions, commitments and opportunities are followed through.

Qualifications

• Proven experience as an Executive Assistant or in a senior business-support role.
• Experience supporting a Managing Director or senior executive.
• Excellent organisation with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication and discretion.
• Experience coordinating meetings, minutes and action logs.
• Comfort with confidential information and high integrity.

Responsibilities

• Executive Support: Manage the MD's diary, prioritise appointments, coordinate meetings and travel.
• Communication Management: Draft professional emails and manage follow-ups.
• Meetings & Action Tracking: Organise board meetings and maintain action trackers.
• Management Reporting: Coordinate weekly management reports and concise briefs.
• Stakeholder Management: Build relationships with senior leadership and clients.
• Business Development Support: Track key clients and opportunities; coordinate introductions.
• Confidential Administration: Prepare board papers and presentations with discretion.
• General Coordination: Support travel arrangements and other logistics.

Skills

Diary management

Stakeholder coordination

Executive support

Travel coordination

MS 365 / Outlook

Tools

Microsoft 365

Outlook

Word

Excel

Job description

The Opportunity

We are working with an established, owner-managed civil engineering business delivering complex infrastructure projects across rail, water, utilities, aviation and other sectors. They are looking for a highly organised, proactive and commercially minded Executive Assistant to support the Managing Director and play a key role in keeping the business running smoothly.

This is much more than a traditional PA role. You will act as a trusted extension of the MD's office, managing priorities, coordinating senior stakeholders and ensuring that decisions, commitments and business opportunities are followed through. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys taking ownership, working at pace and making a genuine impact at senior leadership level.

Key Responsibilities

• Executive Support: Manage the MD's diary, prioritise appointments, coordinate meetings and travel, and ensure they are fully prepared for key engagements.
• Communication Management: Monitor and prioritise correspondence, draft professional emails, manage follow-ups and ensure important matters are dealt with promptly.
• Meetings & Action Tracking: Organise board meetings, leadership meetings and client engagements, prepare agendas, take minutes and maintain action trackers to ensure deadlines are met.
• Management Reporting: Coordinate weekly management reports, chase submissions from senior managers and prepare concise briefings highlighting key priorities, risks and outstanding actions.
• Stakeholder Management: Build strong relationships with senior leadership, clients and external stakeholders, ensuring effective communication and accountability across the business.
• Business Development Support: Maintain trackers for key clients, prospects and opportunities, coordinate introductions and ensure commercial conversations progress.
• Confidential Administration: Prepare board papers, presentations and documentation while handling sensitive commercial and personnel information with discretion.
• General Coordination: Support travel arrangements, appointments and other logistical requirements to ensure the MD's time is used effectively.

About You

We are looking for someone who is proactive, commercially aware and confident working with senior stakeholders. You will be highly organised, able to anticipate what needs to be done and comfortable taking ownership without requiring constant direction.

You will ideally have:

• Previous experience as an Executive Assistant, Personal Assistant or in a senior business support role.
• Experience supporting a Managing Director, CEO, founder or senior executive.
• Excellent organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to engage and follow up with senior managers and clients.
• Experience coordinating meetings, preparing minutes, managing action logs and producing reports.
• Strong IT skills, particularly across Microsoft 365, Outlook, Word and Excel.
• Excellent judgement, discretion and attention to detail when handling confidential information.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach and the confidence to challenge priorities respectfully when needed.Experience within construction, civil engineering, infrastructure or another operationally intensive sector would be advantageous but is not essential.

What Makes This Role Different?

This is an opportunity to become a key partner to the Managing Director, helping create structure, improve accountability and ensure that important business priorities are delivered. You will have the autonomy to manage routine matters independently, build relationships across the organisation and make a tangible difference to the effectiveness of the senior leadership team